Course unit details:Moral Geographies

Overview

This course takes a geographical approach to some of the world’s most complex moral issues.

We live in a world that is saturated with information, opinion and debate. The rise of the Internet and smartphone technology has also meant that comment and opinion is freer than ever before. Sometimes it seems as if everyone has a view about everything, from the trivial to the world changing! Talking heads offer their firmly held beliefs while polemicists offer a veneer of certainty to people in an uncertain world. Implicitly or explicitly, when we talk about politics, the environment and society, we are making value judgements.

However, what is considered to be good or right is too often assumed or taken for granted. Arguments using value premises are not necessarily as clear-cut as some would have you believe. Therefore we need to have the tools to reflect on why we believe certain things to be right or true in order to justify and defend our positions.

Moral Geographies will give you the chance to explore a range of moral questions from a geographical perspective. Arguably a geographical perspective, which embraces knowledge from other disciplines and not only its own, is well-placed to ‘join the dots’ and grapple with the complexity of the world as it is, not how we want it to be. It will explore these complex issues using a multi-scalar, place-sensitive approach, embracing not only key geographical thinkers, but also philosophers, political scientists, sociologists, psychologists and economists. Each week we will take a different topic and case study, outline the key parameters of the debate, before uncovering and grappling with some of the moral dilemmas associated with the topic.

This course is not just for those of you who are already interested in politics and morality. It’s also for those that are sometimes unsure what to think; the sceptics wary of claims to truth and certainty, who worry that the more you learn about a topic, the less certain you seem to be about it. Thus, one of the aims of the course is to question the instinctive assumptions that we often assume to be true and to reflect more deeply on these, in order to help you improve your ability to debate and argue in a logical and reasoned manner.

Through a genuinely open approach, unafraid of tackling ‘dangerous ideas’, Moral Geographies aims to get you to engage critically with your own and others’ beliefs, while equipping you with the tools to better navigate complex and uncertain moral terrain.

Aims

To explore the morally complex nature of a range of topical issues facing the world today

To appreciate the role of a geographical approach in tackling a number of contemporary moral conflicts

To embrace an ‘all of the above’, inter-disciplinary and multi-media approach to tackling moral questions

To bring theories and arguments to life using case studies

To discuss and debate moral questions in an inclusive and constructive manner

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course unit, you should be able to:

Critically engage with moral geographies as a distinct field of geographical research

Understand the relationship between moral philosophy and a geographical approach

Better navigate the polarised debates that dominate contemporary society through taking a genuinely critical and sceptical approach to knowledge

Reflect on your own values and those of others, in both a personal and professional context

Independently research and write about a contemporary moral conflict

Be able to apply the critical and analytical skills developed during the course in your dissertation and in everyday life

Syllabus

1: Introducing Moral Geographies: Freedom of Speech on Campus

2: Inequality: The Root of All Evil?

3: The Ethics of Consumption

4: The Politics of Sex Work (Featuring Guest Speaker)

5: Climate Change and the Merchants of Doubt

6: Study Week

7: The Dis-United States of America

8: Geopolitics and Realpolitik in the 21st Century

9: Study Week

10: Freedom of Movement

11: Learning to Live in the Anthropocene

12: Concluding Moral Geographies: Moral Clarity, or Shades of Grey?

Teaching and learning methods

The course unit will be delivered via a 2+1 format, namely a two-hour lecture and a one-hour seminar each week. The lecture sessions will be interactive and will encourage discussion and questions. Sessions will draw upon a range of resources, from videos to photographic images. The seminars will compliment the lectures by allowing for more debate, as well as the chance to critically engage with readings and other media, from documentaries to podcasts.

Transferable skills and personal qualities

Critical thinking, reflection and self-awareness

Information handling skills, evaluation and analysis of different kinds of evidence

An ability to consider the merits of contrasting theories and approaches

An ability to understand the real-world complexity of many contemporary issues

Debating and group working skills

Motivation and self-directed learning

Awareness of your own values, assumptions and biases

Assessment methods

Assessment

Students will be assessed by a piece of individual coursework worth 50%, and an unssen exam worth 50%. The coursework essay, (2,220-2,500 words) asks you to explore a contemporary moral conflict of your choice, and to evaluate the competing claims being made in a geographically grounded manner. The exam asks you to write one essay from a choice of six, and two shorter answer questions based on key ideas from the course.

Feedback methods

Feedback will be provided in the following ways during this course unit:

Extensive verbal feedback through Q&A, discussion and interactive activities within lectures and seminars

Verbal feedback on any course unit issue through consultation hours

Peer feedback through seminar participation

§ Detailed written feedback on the coursework assignments.

Recommended reading

The reading for this course will be broad and diverse, both within and outside of Geography. A sample of the kinds of texts that will be engaged with can be found below:

Bregman, R. (2017) Utopia for Realists: And How We Get There. London: Bloomsbury.